Spring fastening device.



i. LuDEKE'a s. B. LuEHM. SPRING FASTENING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED IAN. 5. I9I6.

1,199,014. Patented sept. 19,1916.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFC.

EMIL LUDEKE AND SAMUEL B; LUEHIVI; OF ROCHESTER, NEW YORK.

SPRING rAs'rnNnve DEVICE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 19, 1916.

'To all fio/tom t may concern Be it linown that we, EMIL LUDEKE andSAMUEL B. LUnrrM, both of Rochester, in the county of Monroe and Stateof New York, have'inventedA certainnew and useful In'iprovements inSpring Fastening Devices; and we do hereby declare the following to be afull, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had tothe accompanying drawings, forming 'a :part of this speciandl to thereference-numerals marked thereon.

Our invention has for its'object to provide an `improved springfastening or locking device for holding two parts in engagement witheach other, and to permit of their being disengaged by a simplereleasing operation of the fastening device.

A furtherobject of the invention 'consists in affording a constructionthat` requires only few parts, and can be produced at a very low cost.

To these and other ends the invention consists in certain' improvementsand combinations "of parts, all aswill be hereinafter more fullydescribed, the 'novel features being pointed out in the claims at theend of the specification.

In the drawings: Figure 1 isa view in elevation, showing an applicationof one embodiment of the invention; Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional viewpartially in elevation on the line a--a of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a sectionalview partially in elevation on the line -'Z) of Fig. 1; Fig. l is a viewsimilar to Fig. 3, with one of the parts removed, and the latch membersin disengaging position; Fig. 5 is a sectional view on the line c-c ofFig. 3, and Fig. 6 is a detail view in elevation lof one of the latchmembers.

Similar reference numerals throughout the several figures indicate thesame parts.

The invention is susceptible of a large variety of applications, and inthe present embodiment, we have illustrated one arrangement which may beemployed for retaining in position the removable curtains, such as areused on carriages and other vehicles, where fastening members areattached on the body and coperate with the curtain to hold the latter inplace, as an illustration of a preferred form of the invention, there isprovided a support or plate l which is attached to the body portion 2 ofthe vehicle by suitable screws 3 or other convenient means. The supportl is provided with ears i in which is secured the bearing or pin 5 uponwhich the latch members are pivotally mounted, as will now b-edescribed.

rThe device embodies a pair of latch members which are designatedgenerally at 6 and are preferably constructed in the form shown,although the invention is-not necessarily limited to the preciseconstruction herein set forth as a modified arrangement may be employedwhile still retaining the essential features of the invention. Eachlatch member' is provided with a transversely arranged opening 7 whichreceives the bearing 15, and is recessed around the'opening, asindicated at 8, said recessed portion being connected with the base ofthe latch vmember by means 'ofa cut away portion 9.

10 designate beveled shoulders provided on the latch members forengagement with the latch plate in a manner which will presently appear.The latch members are also undercut at points slightly above the base,as indicated at 1l, in order to afford means for limiting theirmovement, as will appear hereinafter.

The latch members are designed to be spring actuated in oppositedirections, and to this endthere is provided a single spring cooperatingVwith oppositely disposed surfaces on the respective latch members whereby to'move the latter in opposite directions. More specifically in thisrespect, the structure comprises a coil spring 12 which is arranged uponthe bearing 5 and is housed in the recess 8 between the latch members.The opposite ends of the spring extend into the cut awa-y portions 9 ofthe latch members, as will be apparent from an inspection of Fig. 5, andthe action of the spring is such as to cause the ends thereof to engageopposite surfaces of the latch members and thereby to effect theirmovement in opposite directions. The shoulders which are adorded by theundercut portions 11 engage the lower faces of the plate 1,V as shown inFigs. 3 and 4l, and serve to limit the `movement of the latch members ineither dirction, Fig. 3 showing the position of the parts when the latchmembers are in engaging position, and Fig. 4 showing them with the latchmembers in disengaging position, the spring being compressed by pressingagainst the latch members until their outer ends are in alinement witheach other'.

The latch plate is designated at 13 and may be attached in anyconvenient manner to the object to be fastened, the same in the presentinstance consisting of the curtain 14:. The latch plate has an openingto receive the latch members and in order to afford proper lockingengagement of the latch members with. the latch plate, the latter isprovided with angular ianges 15 at the ends of the openingto engage withthe beveled shoulders 10 of the latch members. The flanges 15 arepreferably formed as shown, by providing a substantially V shapeddepression or indentation in the plate near the edges of the opening. Bythis construction, when the parts are in the position shown in Fig. 3,the curtain is securely locked .and cannot be accidentally orunintentionally removed from the vehicle. Wlhen, however, it is desiredto remove the curtain, this can be readily accomplished by simplypressing together the ends of the latch members unt-il they assume theposition shown in Fig. 4. In a similar manner, the curtain can be lockedin position with equal facility by simply positioning the latch plateover the ends of the latch members and forcing it on until the shoulders10 engage the flanges 15.

XVe claim as our invention:

1. In a curtain fastener, the combination with a. support embodying sidewalls and a top,\of a bearing secured to the support7 a pair of latchmembers mounted on the bearing having transverse openings to receive thelatter, each of the latch members being provided with a recesssurrounding said opening and a cutaway portion in the basecommunicatingv with the recess, and a coil spring surrounding thebearing and disposed in said recesses of the latch members7 the ends ofthe spring being engaged in cutaway portions at the base of the latchmembers, the latter being undercut at points ad-Y jacent to their baseportions to afford lugs or extensions adapted to engage the lower sideof the top of the support so as to limit the movement of the latchmembers.

2. ln a curtain fastener, the combination with a support embodying sidewalls for face of the top of the support to limit movement of the latchmembers.

3. ln a curtain fastener, the combination with a support embodying Isidewalls for engagement with the surface to which the support is attached,and a top connectingy the side walls, a bearlng'secured to the support,a pair of oppositely acting latch members having transverse openingssubstantially intermediate their opposite edges to receive said bearingwhereby the latch members are centrally pivoted with relationto theiropposite edges, the latch members having lugs or extensions formed atpoints adjacent their base portions for engagement with the lower faceof the top of the su\pport, to limit movement of the latch members, anda spring housed by the latch members and cooperating therewith to movethem in opposite directions.

' EMIL LUDEKE.

SAMUEL B. LUEHBL lVitnesses H. E. STONEBRAKER, RUSSELL B. GRIFFITH.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressingvthe Commissioner of Patenti,

Washington, D. C.

